Chapter 22 Does my love frightens you? – Panda Translations

10-13 minutes

Xie Ge’s abruptly slammed the door after finishing his sentence, and his flimsy back swiftly vanished from view.

From inside the door, Xie Fenglan’s loud voice could be heard, demanding, “Can you close the door gently?”

“Stop bothering me!” The house fell silent once more after Xie Ge roared.

Regaining his focus, Qin Mu turned to face Guo Guo. Guo Guo continued to ponder his toes silently in the gloomy dusk. Only his pointed chin and the narrow corners of his mouth were visible to Qin Mu’s eyes. He is aware of Guo Guo’s current state of mind, but he is unsure of how to console him.

Guo Guo has always hidden his recollections of his biological parents at the bottom of his heart over these years, not wanting Su’s parents to know that he still has childhood memories. Guo Guo won’t approach to speak to him in secret until he has no way to endure it. Yet as time went on, Guo Guo seldom brought up the memories of the past to him. He kept accumulating insight and became more sensible. Sometimes Qin Mu missed Guo Guo that wilted and cried in his arms.

But still, everyone must eventually learn how to mature; both he and Guoguo are growing up.

In Qin Mu’s opinion, Guo Guo needed the guts to face the outcomes. He inhaled deeply before raising his hand to smooth Guo Guo’s hair. “It’s late now, and uncle and aunt should be worried. Let’s go back first, okay?”

The boy bent his head and remained silent.

Qin Mu rubbed his head, made a good effort to endure it, and gently urged: “Let’s go search for it when morning arrives tomorrow. Maybe if the light is good we can discover it.”

Qin Mu didn’t feel any hope when he said this. Simply put, he didn’t want Guo Guo to hang around here to blow the wind.

Guo Guo raised his little face with a sorrowful expression. There is a murky river flowing in his star-studded eyes. At this time, Guo Guo was no longer the crystal-like fragile child, and Qin Mu felt awkward by his silence. Qin Mu was taken aback, blinked subconsciously, and stared intently. Guo Guo’s eyes were shrouded in a thin mist that was brimming with perplexity and nihilism.

“We can find it.” Qin Mu asserted as he firmly grasped his hand. His voice sounded firm. Only he knew that he was convincing himself with this sentence.

Qin Mu sent Guo Guo home, but he didn’t immediately return to his house. He was purposefully moving his legs outside. When he regained consciousness, he discovered that he had unintentionally returned to Xie Ge’s house.

The sky was entirely dark at this moment.

In front of this small hair salon, the lights were out and it was pitch black. The only source of light was a poor incandescent lamp in the entryway.

His mind sped through the event that had just occurred, and Xie Ge’s rebellious and furious eyes emerged as if blaming him of something. Qin Mu’s heart began to choke. He didn’t have any doubts about Xie Ge. Since Xie Ge and Guo Guo Guo were stating the truth, he wondered whether there might be any misunderstanding.

It’s possible that after giving Guo Guo the longevity lock back, Xie Ge left with the chain mistakenly connected, causing the longevity lock to fall into the wrong hands and end up with Xie Ge. Although unlikely, there is still a chance that it may happen. Furthermore, he and Guo Guo have checked every location they have visited, excluding the home of Xie Ge’s family.

Qin Mu was acutely aware that he couldn’t feel at rest till he went to Xie Ge’s house to look around.

However, given what he knows about Xie Ge, if he makes this request, it would undoubtedly have an impact on their friendship.

Just as Qin Mu strained and lingered in the same spot, the teenager’s clear voice pierced through the window and flowed into his ears. “Why are you back here again?”

As Qin Mu peered inside, he only faintly caught a glimpse of Xie Ge standing at the window with his face concealed in the shadows preventing Qin Mu from seeing his look at the time. Damn it! How long has Xie Ge been standing there? When Qin Mu usually spoke, he was generally more direct, but at this time he dragged things out. “I’ve come here to….”

“Where’s Su Jiayu?” 

“Ah, he’s gone back.” Qin Mu responded right away when he heard Xie Ge mention Guo Guo.

Xie Ge remained silent.

He had previously noticed him while Qin Mu was wandering in front of his house. He first remained silent to observe how long Qin Mu would stand at the doorway. Really, Isn’t it just to apologize? What is there to be embarrassed about?

At the corner of his mouth, Xie Ge smiled faintly. Thankfully, it was covered by night and was not particularly noticeable. Xie Ge muttered as he intentionally opened his mouth, “Wait a minute.”

“If you’ve got anything to say, say it.”

Xie Ge didn’t stare directly at Qin Mu; instead, it appeared as though his eyes were aimlessly roving around.

Inadvertently, Qin Mu believed that Xie Ge knew what he was up to. There was a moment of silence before he spoke: “Do you find it convenient right now? I… want to go to your place to look for Guo Guo’s longevity lock…”

Xie Ge opened his eyes wide and looked at Qin Mu before he finished speaking. ” Damn it! You still don’t believe me, right?”

“I don’t doubt you, I just want to be certain.” Qin Mu couldn’t stop himself from raising his voice.

He doesn’t have a good temper, and Guoguo and Grandma consume most of his patience. As for Xie Ge, he doesn’t require careful coaxing because of his stubborn personality, which is similar to a weed.

If Xie Ge was concerned about leaving with Xie Fenglan previously, he should not be concerned right now since staying would be meaningless and nobody would want him to stay!

His eyes lost almost all their warmth, and Xie Ge’s soul felt chills entirely.

“You can try again tomorrow if you still want to look for it. It’s too late now.”

His voice was steady once again, perhaps totally exhausted.

Qin Mu was worried by his calmness and couldn’t help but inquire, “What’s wrong with you? “

“Nothing.” Xie Ge turned away from Qin Mu. He thought maybe he had made a mistake by approaching Qin Mu for the warmth of that emptiness in the first place. Su Jiayu was considerably more significant in Qin Mu’s heart than he was. He has always had a keen eye for character, and this episode only reaffirms his perception that Su Jiayu was not entirely blameless.

“Are you alright?”

Xie Ge could hear Qin Mu’s somewhat anxious voice. Qin Mu began to wonder if what he had just said had destroyed his friendship with Xie Ge.

“It’s okay.” 

Xie Ge shook his head and opened the door. When he did so, his eyes dropped to the ground, and his whitened lips pressed by the teeth muttered: “Qin Mu,” 

“Huh?”

“Goodbye.”

Qin Mu assumed that Xie Ge was no longer upset and disregarded the peculiar feeling in his heart. He couldn’t help but sigh with relief and wave his hand at Xie Ge’s back, saying, “See you tomorrow then.”

See you tomorrow, heh; they don’t need to see each other again.

Qin Mu was still uneasy by the time it was all through. Upon entering the house, Xie Ge left the following sentence: “Don’t be foolish and give Su Jiayu all your heart and lungs. You may believe that I am black and Su Jiayu is whiter than me because you have not seen it.”

“This is your prejudice against Guo Guo.” Qin Mu replied while shaking his head disapprovingly as he heard this.

Well, eight years have passed; why hasn’t the conflict between Xie Ge and Guo Guo been cleared up? Sighing inwardly, Qin Mu decided that he should make time for the two of them to have a good conversation another day and fully clarify any misunderstandings that shouldn’t exist.

The following day, when Qin Mu went to find Su Jiayu, the thirteen-year-old kid dropped his head and dared not look at him, his face bearing a wrong expression. The original plan was for Su Jiayu to accompany him in his search for Xie Ge. Qin Mu reassured him after noticing that he appeared to be continuing to hold himself responsible for the failure to find the longevity lock: “Xie Ge agreed to let us go to his place today to look for it.”

“No need,”

“What’s wrong?” Qin Mu was shocked.

Su Jiayu brought his hand out of his pocket and opened it wide. The missing longevity lock was peacefully resting on his palm and sparkling brightly through the sunlight from the window.

“How did you find it?” Qin Mu enquired with surprise.

The teenager lifted his thick eyelashes, revealing clear, bright pupils tinged with remorse and worry. “When I was taking a shower last night, I spotted it in the garbage can next to the toilet. I guess it accidentally dropped out of my clothing pocket.”

Qin Mu nodded and sighed relievedly, “It’s good to find it.”

“Little brother, I misunderstood Brother Xie Ge.” Su Jiayu said, blaming himself.

They made a mistake by going to Xie Ge for interrogation yesterday night, but Guoguo was the one who discovered back the longevity lock.

He was aware of how high Xie Ge’s self-esteem had always been. Upon noticing Xie Ge’s lonely figure with his back to him last night, Qin Mu realized he wasn’t a competent boss.

What’s wrong is wrong, and Qin Mu won’t try to justify himself.

Although he thought he trusted Xie Ge, he couldn’t be sure.

“Hmm.”

Su Jiayu nodded softly, and his clear eyes quietly glanced at Qin Mu, only to see that Qin Mu’s brows were slightly creased; his face did not reflect the meaning of unusual. 

Only regret and guilt could be seen in Su Jiayu’s eyes. He was the one who acted wrongly.

“This time I wronged Brother Xie Ge, I will apologize to Brother Xie Ge later.” Su Jiayu softly added as he narrowed his eyes while gently tugging Qin Mu’s hand and stared into Qin Mu’s eyes.

“Good, I know that Guo Guo is a good guy.” Qin Mu replied, touching his head in his usual manner.

However, they met with the sight of people entering an empty building when they arrived at Xie Ge’s house, as the wind was howling wildly and blowing the large lock on the door. The entrance to Xie Fenglan’s hair salon is always open throughout the day, and it has never been locked with such a sturdy iron lock as they are now.

For some time, Qin Mu stood in front of the door with a blank expression.

He recalled the farewell Xie Ge had said to him the previous night; it couldn’t have been what he had assumed, right?

By chance, he shouted to a villager who passed by, “Uncle Li, do you know if Xie Ge is at home?” 

“Don’t you know that Xie Fenglan took his son and left Anping Village?”

Qin Mu’s face froze, and he had trouble discovering his voice: “Then did they mention when they would be back?”

“They won’t return, so don’t wait.” Uncle Li carried the pole and moved on, leaving only the aging voice to drift in the distance, “It’s good to leave, Anping Village will be peaceful once they are gone.”